PRASAT, Thailand – Thai and Cambodian troops broke a brief cease-fire and
clashed for an eighth day Friday, shattering hopes of a quick end to a
long-running border conflict that has forced nearly 100,000 villagers to flee.
The death toll rose to 16.
Fighting erupted in the morning and again briefly Friday night, both
countries' troops said as displaced residents on each side waited to see if the
worst skirmishes in years between the Southeast Asian neighbors might finally
end.
"I wish both sides could talk, so that there is no more fighting," said
Boonteung Somsed, a 58-year-old Thai construction worker who fled to the village
of Prasat, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the border.
"Every time a soldier picks up a weapon," he said, "a village has to run away
from home."
Thailand and Cambodia have clashed six times since 2008 over the border,
where several crumbling Hindu temples built nearly 1,000 years ago during the
Khmer Empire sit atop cliffs and in jungles mined in wars past. The land has
been disputed for more than half a century, but analysts say domestic politics
on both sides is driving the conflict as much as any real disagreement between
the countries. AP
